Travels from South Dakota by motorcycle

Overland Expo East

Last weekend I traveled to Asheville, North Carolina to attend the Overland Expo East. While I’ve been to the Expo West a few times, this was my first visit to the eastern version, and it was fantastic. Despite the non-stop rain, supposedly generated by Hurricane Joaquin, and four nights of soggy camping, I had a fantastic time. There’s nothing better than getting together with a bunch of fellow travelers to talk about our experiences. I sat in on an incredibly interesting discussion about traveling through Africa (it’s going to remain on the wish list for now), gave a couple of presentations on tips for traveling in Latin America and a slideshow presentation of our travels, as well as sat on a few panels to try and offer some insight to travelers from my own recent escapades.

Ted Simon was there, as well as Sam Manicom, two men whose books partly inspired my two years on the road. I was able to finally catch up with Becky and Andrea of Moto Venturing, whom we missed in Ushuaia earlier this year by only a few days. I got to see Alison DeLapp again, for the first time since Panama, and caught up with Andrew Pain and Sue Knight and so many other wonderful people.

There was a young man who attended the inaugural Expo East last year who sadly died within days of the event. This year Overland Expo creators, Roseanne and Jonathan Hanson, along with Alistair Farland’s parents announced a new fund that was created to carry on Alistair’s dream of seeing young people explore and change their world. What a beautiful tribute to this young man.

All in all, it was a great event. And I’m looking forward to he next one.